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Boarding school: Two programs take urban youths to the slopes for lessons in life
By GREG JOHNSTON 
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
One path to a troubled teen's heart starts at the top of a ski lift, leads down the snowy slopes and is ridden atop a board.
Following the path does not guarantee that troubles will fade, but for a time at least, life's pains are eased.
That's been the experience of people involved in two innovative programs that use the sport of snowboarding to engage young people -- some street kids, some drug users, some with no money, and some kids with no major troubles.
"It's unbelievable. You see the spark. It's a spark I haven't seen before," says Steve Curry, director of youth development at the High Point YMCA in West Seattle.
More than a dozen of Curry's kids are among 110 in the Seattle area participating in an eight-week program sponsored by Burton Snowboards, the industry-leading company based in Vermont.
Called the Chill program, it takes low-income or socially struggling youngsters -- those without the means to get up to the slopes themselves -- and teaches them to snowboard.
Another program, oriented more toward changing lives and teaching responsibility, is called The Service Board. It was born from the shooting death of a young snowboarder named Jay Bateman.
John Logic, owner of the Snowboard Connection, a shop in downtown Seattle that Bateman frequented, didn't want his customer's death to go down as just another crime statistic. His store is visited by many kids who don't feel part of society at large, so he approached Thomas Goldstein, now The Service Board's director, with his embryonic idea for a snowboarding program.
Now in its third year, The Service Board has 16 youths ages 15 to 18 signed on for its six-month program, which takes the group to the slopes every other Sunday. Twelve adult volunteers serve as mentors, but also interact with the kids on an equal footing.
"Most of these kids ... have never seen snow in the mountains," says Logic. "Most are from single-parent households. Some have been in trouble with the law."
On alternate Sundays, The Service Board works on service-oriented projects, such as park cleanups and housing program work. Every Wednesday evening the group meets for a meal and discussions on topics such as police, drugs, sex and food.
"We are not about snowboarding," says Goldstein, 31, a guy with dark, curly hair, an infectiously quirky zeal and a background in social-service work. "Snowboarding is part of what we do, but we're about learning life skills. The snowboarding does tons of things I would never have envisioned. Being in a van together for an hour is like a moving confession."
No one claims The Service Board changes every participant's life, but it does provide healthy examples, a sense of family or community, and options.
"It has given me a source of pleasure outside of drugs," says a 17-year-old Nathan Hale student who is in his second year on The Service Board. "Drugs will wrap you up. It's broken me free of that."
He acknowledges that at one point in his life he was more often stoned than sober. A turning point came last June when the group took a weekend snowboarding trip to Mount Hood.
"I was out on the slopes all weekend having so much fun and I realized I couldn't care less about drugs," he recalls.
"It's not like, 'OK, now I'm in The Service Board and now I'm not using.' It gives me some time away from drugs. It's given me something I can do for myself that is good and healthy."
The same can be said for Chill.
"The program is awesome," says Nick Liwanag, a short and lively former street kid from Seattle who describes his age as "16 basically," wears a baseball cap sideways and sneaks smokes (a banned activity) during a trip to Snoqualmie Summit ski area.
"It helps in many ways, taking homeless kids up here. I love it. It's fun. It's crazy."
Liwanag and Thoeun Savorn of West Seattle, 17, both are experienced skateboarders, and they took to snowboarding like ice to cold.
"For me, it's like taking a day off," says Savorn, a former Cleveland High student, who then struggles for the right word. "It's ... open."
Kids in the Chill program got involved through a variety of youth service organizations, such as the Orion Center, a drop-in facility for homeless and street kids; the 45th Street Clinic, which provides health care for those without money or means; the Rotary Boys and Girls Club in the Central District, and the High Point Y.
These are groups funded largely by government and donations, which means they can't spare a penny.
"Everything has just been real positive," says Carol Cordova, who helped organize participation in Chill as a youth-program specialist for Seattle's Department of Housing and Human Services. "They (Burton Snowboards) pick up everything except our meals, and we were able to get some of that donated."
It is more than a free snowboarding ride, however.
"At High Point, we're dealing with gangs and violence," says Curry. "We try to get the kids involved in something positive, and this has done that. These are kids I couldn't get in any kind of structure. But they always show up for this.
"It's cool, risky, in vogue."
Carl Backman, Burton's coordinator of the Chill program -- which involves 503 kids in groups here, Boston and Burlington, Vt. -- explains that company founder Jake Burton's youthful years were not the most focused but snowboarding changed Burton's attitude and provided a sense of community with fellow riders.
"Jake feels real strongly that his life was changed by snowboarding, and if he can introduce it to some of these kids who are having trouble, or who don't have as much opportunity, maybe something good will come out of that," Backman says. "That's the total reason for doing it."
Both Chill and the Service Board are affiliated with non-profit groups. In both programs, the kids get snowboarding lessons, and all the boards, boots, gloves and other apparel are provided.
The Service Board is funded entirely by donations, from charitable foundations, small business owners and individuals. Logic provides the equipment through local snowboard companies such as K2 and Mervin Manufacturing. Ski areas donate lift tickets.
"They're making great changes in those kids' lives," says Lou Lenihan, general manager of Snoqualmie Summit. "If there's a chance to make a difference, that's the kind of charity we're going to support."
The kids on The Service Board says the program isn't all cool.
"Some of the service projects are boring," says Shikita Trahan, 15, a Rainier Beach student. "He (Goldstein) has us going out on the streets meeting people who don't want to meet us and sometimes they cop an attitude. I don't mind, but I wish we could pick our own service projects."
There can be friction between members, sometimes stemming from the Wednesday evening discussions, which can get deep and heavy. But mostly they hang together.
"We all get along," says Trahan. "We see each other on the street and go "What up?"'
One remarkable aspect of The Service Board is the commitment it generates, not only from the kids but also the adult volunteers.
Megan Jasper of Seattle, who works in the music business and has been snowboarding for four years, got involved as a volunteer last year through a friend.
"I was hesitant because I have too many things going on -- work and hobbies," she says. "But I came along and just loved it. I wasn't even thinking about making a commitment, but I did.
"The kids rule!"
Thomas Caldwell, who runs the Chill program locally, also remains active in The Service Board after serving as its main snowboarding instructor the first two years.
"The Service Board is in my heart," he says. "We're using building blocks to make communities better by teaching kids respect and responsibility, and it deals with snowboarding.
"The Chill program ... targets a lot of the people in the same communities. There's usually some economic reason why some kids don't get up on the hill. It's really nice for them to have a way to get up there."
Caldwell, an African American and longtime snowboarder, says both programs -- which include blacks, whites, Asians and Native Americans -- will also help the sport of snowboarding by increasing the diversity of riders.
"It's important not to see this sport turn into what skiing is," he says. "Snowboarding has the opportunity in the next four or five years to be, in itself, a tradition, but one based more on expression and riding the way you want to, where you're not judged by the brightness of your ski suit and the fanciness of your boots."
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